Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

So we got a little taste of snow on Sunday and the forecast said we would be getting more Wednesday. Wednesday morning came and we had a little bit, enough for maybe two hours late start, but then they decided to cancel school. Well, it RAINED all day Wednesday. I was so cranky. I don't mind if the kids are home and can play in snow, but to be home and in the house with cold and rain outside was a different story.

Luckily, today the weather redeemed itself. It snowed most of the day, often times really light, but it was snowing. On Tuesday I figured it would be wise to get the kids some actual "snow clothes" and they were so excited. I also picked up a couple of little plastic saucers for the kids. There is enough of a hill at the park here in our neighborhood that the kids feel like they are getting a good sled run in. With snow clothes on we could stay outside a lot longer without getting cold. The kids played outside all morning until lunch time. Then we came in for lunch, I ran a quick errand, put Kendall down for a nap and we were all back outside for more sledding. I was a much happier mom today because the kids and I had so much fun. (I took a few sled runs myself!)

Here are my two sweet girls.

This is Megan right after she went down the slide at the park head first.

Dilan was so fun today. I had fun whipping him around on the saucer today.
The little neighbor boy Garrett brought out this little set-up his dad made and pulled Atwood around for like 45 minutes. I asked Garrett if he wanted a turn and he said "no, I'm too heavy for Atwood so I'll just pull him". I think Atwood got the better deal here.
Oh Kendall. She looks so cute in her new little hat and mittens, but man she fought me to get them on today for some reason. She enjoyed a few sled rides with mom.
Dilan had to show everone how it was done.

Megan of course was nervous, but couldn't get enough of it after she tried it.

The first few times Atwood didn't want to go by himself, but then he just wanted to keep going and not stop.

It's supposed to be so cold, hopefully the snow will stick around a while.

YUMMY!!!!

Growing up, we always had a day when Grandma Jorgensen would come out to the house and my two sisters and I would bake cookies with our mom and Grandma Jorgensen. Sometimes it is not until you grow up and have your own family that you realize how thankful you are for these little traditions. We always made at least 6 different kinds of cookies and not just a single or double batch. I swear we made enough cookies for the everyone who lived on Lea Hill. Today my next door neighbor and I made some little goodies (not near the amount I did growing up), but once again I was reminded of the fun times we had doing this. Three of the best things my mother taught me were #1 how to make good cookies, #2 how to make good strawberry freezer jam, and #3 how to can really yummy peaches and pears. Thanks Mom!

So sweet...

This morning we had 2 hour late start because of the icy weather so I had the kids do some of their homework. For Megan's homework, she had to write a list of things she wants Santa to bring her for Christmas. She gave me the following list (sorry it's hard to read because Kendall crumpled it up while I was getting my camera). You might have to click on the picture to read it better.

I could tell what everything was (love the phonetic spelling of words) except for #4 "my safyer". I thought about it and tried to figure it out, but finally I had to ask her what #4 was. She said that it was "my Savior". Then she said "I want Santa to always help me remember Jesus". I was taken back a second and reminded how lucky we are to have our sweet Megan as part of our family. She is such a loving girl with such a strong little testimony.

Later in the afternoon, I was talking to a friend of mine who works in primary. She was at Megan's school helping out and said she saw a poster where the kids had to draw pictures of what they were thankful for. She said Megan's picture was a little girl and a dad in water and the little girl was getting baptized. Then she wrote something about being thankful to get baptized. It makes me so happy that she shares her testimony with others (even when she doesn't realize it). We love you Megan. Thanks for being so sweet.

What do you do when church is canceled?

This morning around 8:00 we got a call saying that church was canceled because of the snow and ice on the roads. I cuddled up on the couch in blanket with my warm pajama pants and sweatshirt on. I do love going to church, but I was so comfy in my blanket. Anyway, the boys went to play legos and the girls were up in Megan's room. A bit later, the girls came down in Megan's church dress (over pajamas). Kendall was so proud of herself for wearing one of Megan's dresses. In fact, it is now four hours later and she still has it on while she is taking her nap.

Aaron had Kendall lift up her dress so he could see her beautiful shoes! It's fun being a girl.

The first snow of the year...

I absolutely love it when we get snow. It is never enough in my opinion. Last night it started snowing before the kids went to bed. I had put them in bed and was doing some present wrapping downstairs and then I had to go upstairs for something. We have a big window in our stairwell and when I looked out the window, it looked like a giant snowglobe. So I called my three oldest kids to see if they were asleep. They weren't so I had them all come look at the giant snowglobe out our window. After a bit, I grabbed the camera and took a few shots outside of the snow at night. I just love the look of it.

This was the snow in the morning. It was so windy out that the snow was blowing off of everything, but still looked so great.

Hopefully we'll have lots more of this white stuff!

Fun day with Dallis!

On Friday, Dallis White go to come and spend the day with us while her mom was at an appointment. She is one of the funniest little girls I know. Kendall loved having a playmate for the day and Atwood was a great tour guide of our house and made sure Dallis had everything she needed at the house.

Deanna asked how they were and I told her good, but I don't think she believed me. Finally, I said ok the most trouble they caused was dropping a couple of handful of crayons and pencils on the ground while coloring. They thought it was so funny, but were more than happy to get down and sing "clean up" while picking them all back up.

Here the girls are watching it rain outside. They were totally having their own little conversation, pointing out the window and laughing.

Thanks for hanging out with us all day Dallis. We'll have to do it again sometime!

Star in the making...

Look at her star quality...dirty shirt, messy hair, and sweet glasses!

My favorite decoration of the year...

Last week when we got to the Whites to go to Snowflake Lane, there was this beautiful display on her kitchen table of the plate and nativity with a card for us. Could I really be so lucky that this was mine? Well, yes I could! Isn't it gorgeous? I absolutely love it. I had to take this picture and share it with everyone because I think it is so great. Thanks Deanna for making such a beautiful gift for us.

Going to see Santa

We went to the Supermall for our trip to see Santa and tell him what we would like for Christmas. When we first got there, Kendall was very nervous and did not want to be put down and did not want any picture taken. We were on the back side of Santa's sleigh so she decided it was okay to get down for a bit. Anyway, the kids were very patient waiting for their turn. There were three families in front of us and of course, their camera system crashes. We had to wait another 20 minutes or so for their system to get back on line. Well, it was finally our turn. All of the three older kids went and got by Santa for the picture and Kendall's grip tightened and she started screaming. So classic! I put her on Dilan's lap next to Santa and she just screamed and wiggled so much that Dilan could not hold onto her. I didn't care that she was crying for the picture, but she kept moving and they couldn't get a good shot without it being blurry. So finally I just told Dilan to hold on as tight as he could to Kendall. (you can see by Dilan's face how he is struggling to hold her...that is not his normal expression!)

The next Tuesday I took the kids to the public library in Buckley while Dilan was at cub scouts and they happened to be having a Santa night at the library. When we walked in and Kendall saw Santa, she grabbed me once again super tight. I told her she did not have to see Santa and then she was fine. Now she loves looking at her picture of Santa and laughing about it. It was a fun night for all of us though.

Here is my poser Megan.

Here are my patient children waiting while the camera system was down.

Build-A-Bear

For Megan's birthday, she was able to invite 6 of her friends from school to go to Build-A-Bear. The girls came over to our house for cupcakes and presents before we left. My friend and neighbor Becky came with to help drive the girls. (Her daughter is Megan's friend Madison...the cute blond with the pigtails). Anyway, off we went to Tacoma.

When you get to Build-A-Bear, you have a party leader. I could not have hand-picked a better person for our group of girls. Her name was Brianna and she was so much fun. She was so cute with the girls and talked just like them. She is in musical theater so it must have come natural for her.

First order of business was picking out your animal. The girls could choose between two bears, a dog, or a koala bear.

After the animals were picked out, they had to get in a line to head to the stuffing area. But, the stuffing machines were busy for a few more minutes so Brianna had the girls marching around the store chanting "We want stuffing, we want stuffing, we want stuffing". It was hilarious.

Here they are chanting.

Oh wait, before they stuffed their animals, they were given little red hearts to put in their animals. Megan had one heart and the other girls all had 2 hearts, one for their animal and one for Megan's bear. Here they are rubbing all the hearts together so the animals can be "best friends forever".

Then she had each of the girls close their eyes tight and make a wish. Obviously Megan is wishing very hard for something.

Then they stuffed their hearts into their animals and got ready to stuff them.

Then it was time for stuffing. Each girl got to push the stuffing pedal while Brianna stuffed their bears for them.

While the girls were taking turns stuffing bears, Brianna had them play the game "telephone" where you start with one girl telling a sentence and then whisper it to each other. The last person tells what they think the sentence is and see if it is right. These girls thought it was so fun.

After stuffing, each animal had to be washed for sure. The girls stepped on the pedal to blow air on the animals while they were brushed.

After cleaning came dressing the animals.

Here is Megan with her finished product.

Brianna had the whole store sing Happy Birthday to Megan. She hugged her bear tight (it's kind of the thing she does when she gets embarrassed). It was very fun though.

And here are all the finished products. All the girls were great. It was hard for Megan to narrow down her friends list. She loves all of her friends so much. These girls were all so polite.

In Brianna's words, they had a "beary" good time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN...WE LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday Megan...

Megan turned 7 this past Friday. I can't believe she is really that old. I know, 7 is not REALLY that old, but time seems to go by faster and faster with my kids.

She was so excited to have two new Barbies and a Barbie movie. She is such a fun girl who just loves make believe and playing. I am so glad I get to be her mom. She is so talented and just easy going (most of the time). She loves everyone and wants them all to feel so special. We have a great time together.

Rocket Derby

In July when Dilan turned 8, he started cub scouts. I am slowly learning to be excited about scouting. Anyway, he had his first Rocket Derby this past week. He and Aaron built the rocket and painted it.

Here they are attaching the rocket to the wire and getting ready to wind.

Here is Dilan's biggest fan there to cheer him on!

Here is Dilan standing in front of the scoreboard. The columns were for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. He didn't win the overall contest, but had a great time. Dilan had a blast. He was so excited to get to spend time with his friends racing rockets. Aaron was a good instructor. It is so fun to see Dilan excited for scouts.

My first scarf...

So last Christmas (yes Christmas of 2007), I learned how to knit. Well, I actually didn't really learn how, my sister-in-law Heather just showed me how to do it. She started and I just kept going, but here's my finished product. Megan wanted a pink scarf to keep her warm during the winter. Here we are just short of one year later and I finally finished. It didn't actually take me the whole year, I just put the scarf in my cupboard and didn't work on it forever. I already have orders from Dilan, Atwood, Kendall, and my nephew Brevin and niece Brynn for scarves for them. At my rate, they may all get their scarves by the time they are teenagers. I have to confess too that a friend Mike actually finished it up for me and then I added the little frillies on the ends. Not too bad for my first time though.

Dressing up

For as long as I can remember, Megan loved dressing up in her princess dresses with shoes, crowns, magic wands, etc. Well, Megan (now 7) doesn't dress up as often anymore. Kendall is starting to want to wear dress up things too, not so much the dresses, but loves the shoes. She was so proud of herself that she could walk around the kitchen in these shoes AND they made noise. I love that she loves the pink and fluff too!